A New Era of Economic Ties and Bilateral Investment for the U.S. and China

Friday, April 20, 2018UCLA Anderson School of Management

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, presented his report to the 19th Party Congress to outline China’s mid and long-term development goals over the next three decades. Innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and inclusiveness will be the five guiding principles to ensure the country’s goal of building a “moderately prosperous society” will be achieved by 2020. Meanwhile, the U.S. under President Donald Trump is reevaluating its approach to trade, especially with respect to China, but no major policy shifts appear imminent despite the recognition by the U.S. of the importance of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Threats of protectionism, trade walls, and increased tariffs have thus far failed to blunt the rising trade between the two Pacific powers. New cross-border partnerships are being formed and new opportunities are opening up for trade and investment in a number of key sectors from energy to finance.

The 2018 Wilbur K. Woo Greater China Business Conference will bring together successful U.S. and Chinese leaders, investors and influencers from a variety of industries and sectors who will discuss the importance of innovation, collaboration and new technology, as well as diversification and localization. They will share their insights on emerging trends, identify bright spots for future investment and explore new and creative investment strategies and partnerships that take advantage of opportunities in this new era of economic ties and bilateral investment between the world’s two superpowers.

What to expect:

Successful and influential U.S. and Chinese business leaders and experienced investors across a variety of industries and sectors with expertise in cross-border business and investment

Plenary and breakout sessions around the themes of: innovation, collaboration and advanced technology and transformation, diversification and localization – new and important investment strategies and partnerships. Topics include advanced technologies; real estate; media and entertainment; entrepreneurship, investment and growth strategies; and financial risk, monetary policy and SOE reforms

Description: The Chinese economy has been transitioning from one led by investment and exports to an economy focused on innovation, services and consumer spending. Chinese technology companies have been seizing opportunities to expand their businesses and permeate virtually every aspect of users’ daily life by providing convenient solutions from e-commerce to online gaming. Companies based in China have also shifted their attention beyond the domestic market as the technology sector expands and this trend is expected to continue. During the 19th Party Congress, President Xi Jinping emphasized innovation as the primary driving force behind development and the strategic underpinning for building a modernized economy. Companies and institutions are pushing ahead on new frontiers of research, science and advanced and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and autonomous driving, building a digital China and a smart society as well as its aspiration to become a world leader in artificial intelligence. Part of the strategy includes acquiring and investing in U.S. tech startups to expand footprints, attract top talent and gain an edge in innovation. However, this collaboration faces challenges from both governments; Chinese authorities are tightening administrative reviews for capital outflows and the U.S. government is increasing its scrutiny of Chinese investments and has intellectual property concerns. Panelists will share their experiences driving innovation by developing new technologies, products and strategies. They will discuss trends in cross-border investment and share their vision on future technological innovation and scientific advancements as well as the trends and future opportunities and challenges for technology companies going forward.

Description: The United States and China are experiencing strong and steady economic growth which has been accompanied by increasing cross-border investment. The areas and industries for growth continue to expand and evolve. The 19th Party Congress report calls for “developing new ways of making outbound investments,” and promoting international cooperation, building on the foundation of existing initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative. There will be new bright spots for investment for both domestic and foreign individuals as well as corporations with opportunities in the areas of innovation and new technology, improving people’s wellbeing, and green development and environmental protection. Under President Xi, tech and internet entrepreneurship has been encouraged. The 19th Party Congress report also calls for “supporting the growth of private businesses.” Despite the decline of FDI into China, after over twenty years of rapid growth, the report reaffirms that China will not close its door to the world and will become more open, adopting policies to facilitate trade and investment and protect the legal rights and interests of foreign investors. After posting record levels in 2016, China’s outbound investment has also suffered setbacks due to increased scrutiny against suspicious capital outflows and has shifted focus away from the now “restricted sectors” towards the high technology, manufacturing and modern services sectors. Panelists will provide insights on the 19th Party Congress report and the implications for investment in the “restricted sectors” and the need for diversification and new investment strategies and partnerships. They will also discuss opportunities for entrepreneurship and share their perspectives on the governmental policies and initiatives to stimulate economic growth, facilitate entrepreneurship and promote investment opportunities in preferred industries and review the benefits and risks that they present.

Description: The Chinese economy faces many challenges and risks as it seeks to balance growth and reform, including rising debt levels, low investment returns and asset bubbles which will have ripple effects on China’s GDP performance. Preventing systematic financial risks has been the focus of Chinese leadership. The IMF forecasts that the non-financial sector debt in China could rise to over 290 percent of GDP by 2020. To address the issue, the 19th Party Congress report calls for “deepening institutional reform in the financial sector.” A new super regulator will also help to improve risk management. However, there are concerns that a tighter policy environment could weigh on growth. The RMB, which experienced sharp fluctuations, now serves as a global reserve currency and the government is seeking further reform to reduce market interventions and improve the availability of RMB assets. President Xi emphasized the importance of deleveraging state-owned enterprises (SOE) which have been the main beneficiaries of easy credit and the major source of bad debt, as a main priority, including enhancing SOE competitiveness and efficiency through market-oriented reforms, mixed ownership reform and reducing excessive production capacity. Panelists will provide their reactions to China’s performance in balancing growth and reform and share their predictions on the expansion of SOEs and impact on private investment. They will also discuss whether a tighter policy environment could weigh on growth in the world’s second largest economy, implications as well as opportunities for business and what this could mean for the United States and the world.

REAL ESTATE: The Importance of Diversification, Localization and Community Engagement | C-301

Description:U.S. real estate markets have been a top destination for Chinese investors seeking capital diversification and risk mitigation. Much of the money has fueled development in the U.S. However, China’s new set of restrictions on outbound capital flow, making it more difficult to purchase U.S. real estate is expected to negatively impact real estate across a variety of sectors, including residential, commercial and hotel. There has also been more scrutiny by regulators. Limitations on transfer of capital overseas, foreign buyer restrictions, taxes in key markets, and a predicted slowdown of the Chinese economy all present barriers to Chinese investment in the United States. However, investors are now pivoting to different sectors, such as hospitals, education and acquisitions of preschools and student housing. What are the emerging investment trends in the real estate sector? What are the new opportunities and pivoting plays? Panelists will share their insights on emerging trends and opportunities in the sector over the next few years. They will address the importance of diversification, localization and community engagement and discuss some of the challenges that are influenced by the global economic environment, legal and tax considerations and share their perspectives on the future of Chinese capital inflows to the U.S. real estate market.

Description: The media and entertainment industry has experienced significant cross-border investment and cooperation over the last few years. The rapid development of the film industry has been a bright spot for China’s culture industry. However, 2018 will be a turning point for the industry. China’s once booming box office revenue and construction of new cinemas, both experienced exponential growth over the last few years, but they are now entering a more steady phase of growth. Content quality has become critical to attracting greater theater traffic as Chinese movie goers are more heavily influenced by online ratings than by commercial promotions. Subscription-based Video On Demand (SVOD) has also been growing rapidly in China. Content licensing deals between Chinese platforms and U.S. companies are becoming more popular. China’s quota on Hollywood film imports is also projected to continue expanding, allowing Hollywood a greater share of box-office revenue. However, the 19th Party Congress report classifies the entertainment industry as a “restricted” industry and the Chinese government is clamping down on foreign investment in the sector and is looking closer to home for money. What will be the impact of this pullback and tightening of restriction of Chinese investment from Hollywood? What opportunities will there be for new types of cooperation, investment strategies and partnerships? What are the challenges ahead? Panelists will examine this important sea change and try and make sense of recent developments in the cross-border media and entertainment industry. They will also discuss lessons learned from past collaborations and share their observations and predictions on future areas of innovation and collaboration that provide platforms and services that entertain, engage and provide interactive experiences for the end user.

6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

Dr. Feng An is a world-renowned expert in clean transportation, energy technologies and climate policies. He founded iCET in California and Beijing to create a world-class think tank to promote policy changes for low carbon development and sustainable future. iCET has also formed a partnership with the US Dept. of Commerce to launch the U.S.-China Cleantech Center (UCCTC) to promote clean technology innovation and collaboration between U.S. and China.

Prior to founding iCET, An served in numerous national and international institutions with various capacities, including US Agency for International Development, US Dept. of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory, and University of California. He also founded several California-based companies to solve energy and transportation problems. In the past decades, He has advised governments in China, US, EU, Mexico, Brazil, India, Thailand and Saudi Arabia on automotive fuel economy and clean energy policies. He also severed as an advisor to Energy Foundation’s China Sustainable Energy Program, Hewlett Foundation’s Latin America Transportation Program, and Asian Development Bank’s China Energy Management Project.

An has been frequently interviewed by major international and Chinese news media such as New York Times, Washington Post and Xinhua News Agency, and invited as a keynote speaker by many international organizations including the World Bank, United Nations, European Union, International Energy Agency, OPEC, etc. Dr. An received his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Jeff Barney serves as COO of TP-Link North America, Inc. where he leads sales and marketing for the networking business. In this role, he oversees the company’s sales, retail, e-commerce, channel and corporate marketing teams. A veteran of the high-tech and consumer electronics industries, Barney has a proven background in sales, finance, management and operations within international and multicultural organizations. Previously, he was vice president and general manager of Toshiba’s PC/TV business. During his tenure at Toshiba, he served in a number of roles including chief marketing officer and chief financial officer. Barney earned his Bachelor of Arts in finance at California State University, Fullerton.

John R. Blevins (J.B.) ('11) is the faculty director for UCLA Anderson's Easton Technology Management Center and an adjunct professor who teaches strategic management for technology-based businesses. He specializes in emerging technologies that are disrupting traditional business models, including cloud computing, big data, social media, analytics, mobility and technology convergence. With his extensive industry experience, Blevins brings together high-technology sectors, such as aerospace, biotechnology, computer engineering, information technology, software/hardware and telecommunications, with the resources of UCLA Anderson, its students and faculty.

"Technology advances are creating new business opportunities and disrupting existing business models, enabling economic growth potential we've never seen before," says Blevins. "Today's management leadership must be willing to embrace the rapid pace of change and drive faster innovation. Business executives look to the Easton Center for leadership to adapt to this new environment and exploit these new opportunities. Through an incredible combination of research and adjunct professors, we offer a variety of courses, seminars, workshops, executive programs and industry engagement events that prepares our students for the challenges they face."

Blevins' work experience includes roles at Deloitte Consulting, Microsoft, Oracle and Shell Oil, where he held a variety of technology and management positions based in Houston, Dallas, New York, Miami, London and Los Angeles. He provides consulting services to the technology, telecommunications, media/entertainment, financial services, energy, CPG, health care, manufacturing and automotive industries and the public sector. He has expertise in strategy development, business-technology alignment, framework creation, venture capital investment decisions and new business model creation. Blevins speaks at academic and industry events covering technology-driven market changes, technology management leadership and other topics. Blevins is the founder of Navigation Pointe, which provides advisory services and venture capital funding to the emerging technologies industry. He has a B.S. in civil engineering with heavy concentration in speech communications from the University of Alabama, as well as an MBA from UCLA Anderson.

Jim Cheng is director of AI Lab at Suning USA R&D Center. He graduated from Stanford University with Ph.D. in computer science. Before joining Suning, Cheng worked in a number of leading technology companies including Oracle, Yahoo, Microsoft and Wal-Mart Labs. His experience and expertise covers search, advertising, NLP, eCommerce and computer vision. Cheng has more than 30 publications and patents in AI and related domains.

Patrick Duan joined BYD in 2004 and served as a lead design engineer for two years at BYD’s Motor Development Division where he was responsible for engine modeling and performance analysis. He relocated to BYD America Corporation’s headquarters in Chicago in 2006 taking charge of BYD’s market sales of cell phone batteries and key accounts. In 2012, Duan was transferred to Los Angeles and has since been promoted to the position of BYD’s vice president of operations. He has developed extensive engineering and management experience in mass transit products; having overseen BYD’s coach and bus product lines, and now BYD’s SkyRail transportation system. Duan received his degree in mechanical engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology.

Mr. Steven Foland is currently a Managing Director and Head of Banking, Americas for CICC. He has approximately 25 years of investment banking experience, including 15 years of experience in Asia. He was formerly Head of the Asia Investment Banking Group and Co-Head of Software Banking at Stifel, Head of Technology Banking for non-Japan Asia for Credit Suisse and held various positions with Morgan Stanley in both New York and Hong Kong. Foland obtained J.D. from University of Notre Dame and B.A. from University of Michigan.

Dan Goman is the founder and CEO of OWNZONES Media Network and a pioneer in the development and growth of the global OTT market. Launched in 2013, and in less than three years, Goman has taken his OTT startup in the content-provider business and transformed it into a tribrid global EntTech company.

During the early stage of OWNZONES Media Network, Goman recognized that the company would achieve greater success by owning the streaming technology used for its content delivery system. He tasked himself and his talented team of software and tech experts to develop a solution. And, since Goman is an early-adopter, the result of their R&D led to a development of a patent-pending technology within a year. His vision has positioned the company to be exceptional for it’s next-generation capabilities and fully IMF ready. Goman has now set his sights on market expansion, beginning with Europe and the introduction of several content-technology related initiatives.

Over the years, Goman has helped media companies such as Microsoft, Lucent Technologies and AT&T Wireless advance their technology. Goman is a graduate of the University of Maryland and put his technology career on the fast track with software companies in California and Texas before he landed at Lucent Technologies. His valuable experience at Lucent led him to Microsoft as a software developer/network management specialist where he managed Microsoft’s entire network worldwide on all their devices. Technology and computers come naturally to Goman, who hails from S.T.E.M.-focused Romania. When he was just a child, his father bought him an old IBM PC, complete with floppy discs. Goman spent hours programming it until one day when it finally crashed due to limited memory. Today, he enjoys hiking, perfecting his drone skills and working out at the gym.

Wei is an active angel investor in Silicon Valley, focusing on early stage cross-sector investments. He founded Wei Fund in 2015 and UpHonest Capital in 2017. Since 2015, he has invested in 200 Silicon Valley startups, with 1 IPO (Scout, ASX: SCT), 2 unicorns (Checkr, Boom), 9 acquired companies (TBH - acquired by Facebook; Native - acquired by P&G; Chariot - acquired by Ford; YesGraph - acquired by Lyft; Worklife - acquired by Cisco and so on), over 40 companies with valuation greater than 100 million USD (Clara Food, Rescale, Zenreach, After School, Astranis, Hims, Grubmarket and so on). His other portfolio companies include Monkey, a popular social App among Generation Z; TeamDom, top 1 incubator for social influencers; Limebike, bike sharing service in the U.S.; Unicareer, a cross-border career consulting company; LeapStack, a fintech company in China and more. Limited partners of UpHonest Capital include China’s top-tier VCs, public companies, as well as executives from big corporations.

Guo was one of the few to be cited as a “China Whisperer” by the Washington Post, and was one of the first Chinese investors to be featured on the Information. In 2016, he was listed as one of the Global Top 20 Best Cross-Border Early-Stage Investors by ChinaVenture and was honored as the Most Active Angel Investor by ZAngels. In 2017, Guo was ranked as the number one angel investor in Artificial Intelligence by VentureBeats and was recognized under both the Venture Capital and Big Money Startups categories of the Forbes 30 Under 30.

As a young investor, Guo encourages the young generation to start early with investment and asset allocation and has supported over 10 funds initiated by young investors. He is also a supporter of non-profit entrepreneurial organizations, such as Shinect, the largest Chinese engineering community; CEO, an entrepreneurial organization at Stanford University; Women Who Code, the largest female engineering community; and the Last Mile, the largest technology educational program for incarcerated individuals.

As CEO, John Ho is responsible for managing all U.S. operations. He focused on acquisitions, development and sales of residential properties and value-added services in the United States. Before joining Landsea, he worked as the leading global real estate investment management and consulting firm, Colliers International and Jones Lang LaSalle. He served as director and vice president at Johns Lang LaSalle, leading the firm in cross-border business development, focusing on delivering transactional, consultancy and other integrated real estate services to outbound Chinese businesses and investing overseas. Ho holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Southern California with an emphasis on international relations. He is currently in the executive MBA program at UCLA Anderson.

Philip Hurst is Senior Vice President, Director of Wealth Management and Premier Banking at Cathay Bank. He brings over 30 years of financial services supervisory experience to his team, ensuring that those under his supervision are in compliance with all legal and regulatory issues and rules.

Before joining Cathay, Hurst was a Managing Director and Regional Manager at UnionBanc Investment Services, a subsidiary of MUFG Union Bank, N.A., for the Los Angeles region. He also held positions at Shearson Lehman Brothers, Paine Webber, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and WM Financial Strategies. He has earned several multiyear top producer and top sales manager awards throughout his career.

Seamus Jiang is a managing director in the Deals practice based in Philadelphia co-leading PwC US’s China/U.S. cross-border deals team with over 18 years of M&A and finance experience in North America and Asia. He has spent the last 12 years assisting strategic and financial buyers/sellers in evaluating over 130 M&A transactions with an aggregate deal value of over $170 billion in a variety of industries including aerospace and defense, automotive, chemical, education, energy, financial services, healthcare, hospitality, industrial products, pharmaceutical and life science, retail and consumer products, sports and TMT. In the past 3 years alone, Jiang has led over 40 China/U.S. cross-border M&A projects.

Prior to joining PwC US, Jiang worked at GE Capital conducting due diligence and valuation for a $600 million diversified asset portfolio. Earlier in his career, he worked at PwC China, whereby he provided financial audit and business advisory services for over 40 publicly traded companies and Fortune 500 subsidiaries, including several cross-border IPOs on NYSE and HKEx.

Jiang earned a B.A. in International Economics from Fudan University and an M.B.A. from Goizueta Business School of Emory University. He is a CFA charterholder and holds CPA licenses in both U.S. and China.

Richard Jun is the co-founder and managing director of BAM Ventures, a Los Angeles based venture capital firm that he started with Brian S. Lee, a serial angel investor and the co-founder of Legalzoom, Shoedazzle and The Honest Company. Prior to BAM, he served on Shoedazzle’s senior management team as its General Counsel and helped orchestrate the merger of the company with its largest competitor at the end of 2013.

Before Shoedazzle, Jun headed the corporate practice at Lee, Tran and Liang, a boutique downtown Los Angeles law firm. He has extensive experience in all facets of transactional law having served as outside corporate counsel to a variety of companies across a multitude of industries and stages of growth. Jun has considerable experience counseling clients in a broad array of corporate and commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private placements, public securities offerings, secured financing transactions, strategic partnering and licensing technology and intellectual property. He was also the head attorney and lead business development executive at the U.S. division of a prominent South Korean Entertainment conglomerate. Jun received an A.B. with honors from Harvard University, and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law.

Greg Karns is a partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson, one of the largest real estate law firms in the country, where he manages the firm’s Pacific Rim Group. For over 30 years, international investors, lenders, and developers from Greater China and Asia have depended on Karn’s highly sophisticated real estate acquisitions and finance, construction and development, and entity structure and joint venture negotiation. He has a key understanding of his clients’ business needs and objectives, and has been recognized for his creative, effective, and efficient approach.

Karns’ clients range from large international institutions to more entrepreneurial private companies. Over his career he has worked on an extensive array of commercial real estate investment, development and loan transactions. Within the firm, Karns can call upon some of the leading real estate lawyers in the country. Their extensive experience and connections within the real estate industry are unparalleled.

Karns often speaks to local real estate and banking groups, and sits on the boards of several professional, trade and nonprofit organizations including the Asian Business League and Lambda Alpha International, an international land economics society.

Theresa Kwang is an executive director of finance in SCG America Group, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Shanghai Construction Group Inc. She focuses on accounting and tax matters related to the company’s real estate development, hospitality, and construction projects. In addition, she specializes in areas of tax planning, financial operations, and commercial real estate financing.

With over 19 years of experience from companies such as Ernest & Young, PWC, and publicly traded companies, Kwang has a solid knowledge of tax and accounting in financial services, real estate and oil and gas. Her experiences include tax consulting, federal and state tax compliance, income tax provisions for domestic and international publicly traded companies, and closely held businesses.

Prior to this position, Kwang was a director of finance for Greenland U.S. Holding Inc., where she focused on accounting, finance, and tax planning for Greenland Los Angeles Metropolis and New York Brooklyn projects. She is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of California and holds Master of Business Taxation and Bachelor of Accounting degrees.

Charlene Li is the general manager of iFLYTEK North America, responsible for North America market business development and investment. Prior to iFLYTEK, Li held various R&D and management positions at Legend Silicon Inc., Ditech Networks, Centillium Communitions, PMC Sierra, and Cisco Systems. She has extensive work and research experience on audio/video, speech coding and enhancement. Li holds 4 U.S. patents on multimedia signal processing and transmission. She received a B.S. in electronic and communications from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 1995, and a Ph.D in electronic engineering and computer science from UC Santa Barbara in 2000.

Hao Lin is a senior board executive for Alibaba Cloud, a role in which he trail blazes North America to engage with enterprise customers and form strategic partnerships ultimately trying to drive awareness and adoption to the platform that is Alibaba Cloud. Prior to joining Alibaba Cloud, Lin spent 10 years at Oracle in various sales and business development capacities in North America. Before Oracle, he worked in a couple start-up companies in the Bay Area and New York. Lin received his bachelor's degree in computer science from UC Davis. He also has keen interest in the China and APAC market as well as entrepreneurship. In his free time, he can be found on the basketball court or with his wife and toddler on weekend trips.

Chang M. Liu has been a banker in the commercial real estate business for more than 27 years. After graduating from UCLA, he worked for Sumitomo Bank of California, first as a loan officer and then in their Special Assets Group. He then joined Fuji Bank Ltd. and worked in their real estate and corporate finance group. In 1999, he joined California National Bank in the commercial real estate group, where he averaged more than $125 million in annual loan production over an eight-year span. Through the sale of California National Bank to U.S. Bank, he stayed for more than a year to help manage over $3 billion in assets before he joined Pacific Trust Bank at the beginning of 2011 as the EVP and chief lending officer.

In March 2014, Liu joined Cathay Bank as a senior vice president. He is currently Executive Vice President, Chief Lending Officer responsible for 15 lending teams at the Bank stretching across the U.S. from Los Angeles to New York. Cathay Bank traces its roots to 1963 when it was founded in Los Angeles to serve the Chinese immigrant community. Now, 56 years later, Cathay Bank is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol CATY. It is the third largest bank (by assets) based in Southern California, with more than $15 billion in total assets, 67 branches across nine states, serving the needs of commercial real estate owners and developers as well as middle-market business owners. Cathay Bank’s footprint means the bank is actively looking for business opportunities in Seattle/Bellevue, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Boston and New York. Cathay Bank is focused on construction, bridge and mini-perm commercial real estate financing. With a flat organization and local decision-making, Cathay Bank aims to provide timely response to the financing requests. The bank provides competitive pricing and prides itself on service and execution.

Christine Loh

Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Former Under Secretary for the Environment, Hong Kong S.A.R. Government

Christine Loh served as the Under Secretary for the Environment in the HKSAR Government from 2012 to 2017. Her direct policy responsibilities included air quality, energy, climate change and biodiversity. She worked with Mainland Chinese counterparts to define new policies to control shipping emissions, an area of work she pioneered prior to joining the HKSAR Government, which has changed China’s national policy in this area. She created new dialogue platforms between the government and business sectors in order to strengthen Hong Kong’s capacity to meet the challenge of climate change. She worked directly to draft a range of key policy documents for the Environment Bureau. Loh currently serves as chief development strategist at the Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, as well as adjunct professor at the Division of Environment and Sustainability.

Loh was the co-founder of Civic Exchange, an independent, non-profit public policy think tank which became a nationally and internationally recognized think tank, especially in the area of environmental issues. Prior to establishing Civic Exchange, she had a highly successful career in legislative politics. She was appointed to the Hong Kong Legislative Council in 1992 and then ran two successful elections in 1995 and 1998. Prior to her career in politics, Loh had a 14-year career in the private commercial sector. She was engaged in commodities trading and strategic planning for Philipp Brothers, and Phibro Energy, divisions of the U.S. multinational Salomon Inc. (subsequently Salomon Smith Barney and then Citigroup).

Loh has been involved with NGO activities ranging from the arts to the environment and urban development, as well as equal opportunity and constitutional reform. She has established various NGOs, as well as served on the board and chaired many such organizations. She is well known for her work in designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue processes to help deepen and broaden understanding on public issues. She calls these processes Sustainability Tools, which she is continuing to develop by working with various international organizations. She currently serves as director and trustee of CDP Worldwide, a London-based organization that runs a global disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions to manage environmental impacts. In the winter quarter, she will be teaching a course at UCLA Anderson on Understanding Politics – The Global Context for Doing Business.

Jason Miller ('12)

Senior Vice President, Talent International and Emerging Markets, Live Nation

For over a decade, Jason Miller worked at talent agency powerhouse Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Integral in the overall career development of such high profile clients as; Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Jimmy Fallon, Maroon 5, etc. he negotiated and established benchmarks in multi-million dollar contracts in all aspects of his clients’ careers. Negotiations included but were not limited to the areas of touring, sponsorship, TV/video/internet/radio rights, personal appearance, etc. Jason’s expertise was also called upon to assist the corporate marketing division in their representation of Coca-Cola, Starwood Hotels, Visa, etc.

Currently, Miller serves as the Senior Vice President International & Emerging Markets for Live Nation Entertainment. He is responsible for leading talent buying in the Middle East, Africa, and across all nine of Live Nation’s Asian offices including; China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore. With over 20 years of entertainment industry experience, he continues to contribute to industry education by appearing as a guest lecturer at various industry events and conferences, and to students at such prestigious institutions as Syracuse University (S.U.), University of Southern California (USC), and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Miller holds a B.S. from Syracuse University, and an MBA from both the UCLA Anderson School of Management and National University of Singapore. He is based in Beverly Hills, CA.

Roger Moliere is a senior advisor in the firm’s Los Angeles office and a member of the real estate practice. His practice focuses on the public-private development of various mixed-use and commercial projects, public-private partnerships (P3s), and engaging the private sector for design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of transit, highway and infrastructure projects. Moliere has extensive experience in real estate development and leasing as well as all types of public-private partnership arrangements.

Prior to joining the firm, Moliere worked for the Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), where he was responsible for the development and construction of more than 30 mixed-use, hotel and commercial projects on Metro’s property along the Los Angeles region’s transportation corridors and also established Metro’s P3 program for private investment, financing and construction of a wide range of major infrastructure projects.

Prior to his position with metro, Moliere was deputy director of development for the County of Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors for over nine years, where he led the negotiations for the second-generation development of County-owned Marina del Rey. He completed over $1.5 billion in new leasehold public-private joint development projects, including shopping centers, hotels, multi-family residential and marine-related projects and oversaw the leasing and development along 31 miles of coastline managed by the County.

Jon Niermann built his entertainment career of over 25 years with the Walt Disney Company and Electronic Arts, prior to starting his own media companies FarWest Entertainment (2010) and Loop Media Inc. (2016). During his career, he has achieved success on both the business and creative sides of MNC regional, corporate and international business units, as well as entered the entrepreneurial world with his own company. For the past 18 years, Niermann has been in the top management roles bridging the U.S. with Asia for each of these companies. Niermann spent 15 years with the Walt Disney Company, growing from a Disneyland theme park management intern in 1988 to the president and managing director of the Walt Disney Company Asia-Pacific in 2000. While head of Disney Asia-Pacific, he was responsible for regional business development and operations for the company, Disney’s branded television business, its new mobile business, live entertainment, radio and the corporate functions within the region. He created business integration across all Disney business units, including movies, television, products, attractions, interactive, publishing and music.

Niermann joined Electronic Arts, the world’s leading interactive/video game developer and publisher, as its president of Asia in November 2003, combining the Japanese and Asia-Pacific businesses that consisted of 15 offices across the region and over 1,000 employees. Niermann had full P&L responsibility for all of EA’s publishing, EA Sports, EA Games, product development and new business development for all EA brands across the Asia region, including Greater China, Japan, Australia/New Zealand, Southeast Asia, India and South Africa. In 2010, Niermann left EA to start his own venture, FarWest Entertainment HK Ltd., a multiplatform (television, music, live, animation, digital) media and entertainment company that focused on bridging Asia-inspired content with the West in addition to bringing Western formats to Asia. Niermann also used this opportunity to explore the creative and production side of the industry to gain more hands-on understanding and experience with that key part of the business. FarWest Entertainment also develops and owns a growing library of over 50 original TV formats, including The Funders in the U.S. and some shows created specifically for the China market. The company also partnered with EON Media in Singapore and iTunes to develop Asia’s only Pan-Asian music countdown and chart show, Asia Pop 40, which airs on radio and reaches over 80 markets and one billion homes across the region and will soon premiere on regional TV. In 2016, a Mandarin version of the show launched in China. FarWest’s brokerage business pairs top Asian companies, projects or artists with top companies in the West. In 2016, Niermann co-founded LOOP Media Inc., a new global premium short-form content video service. The company partnered with Screenplay Entertainment in Seattle, a leading B2B video content provider, which will be an essential part of bringing LOOP to market in 2018. FarWest has offices in Hong Kong, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Sydney and Singapore. Niermann earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Denver and his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management. While in Asia, the Niermanns lived in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Shanghai.

Judy D. Olian, Ph.D., is dean of UCLA Anderson School of Management and John E. Anderson Chair in Management. She began her appointment in January 2006 after serving more than five years as dean and professor of management at the Smeal College of Business Administration at Pennsylvania State University, and professor and senior associate dean at the Smith School at the University of Maryland.

UCLA Anderson is among the leading business schools in the world, annually providing management education across MBA, master’s and doctoral programs, and to more than 2,000 working professionals through executive education programs. The school has several internationally recognized research centers and a global alumni network of more than 38,000 graduates. Under her leadership, UCLA Anderson has hired a record number of faculty, and raised over $400 million for students and faculty support and to create innovative programming.

The school’s Board of Advisors has expanded, attracting many prominent business leaders who represent diverse functional and global perspectives. Olian served as the 2008 chairman of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the premier business accrediting and management thought leadership organization in the world.

Widely published in journals on human resource management, top management team composition, and the business alignment of management systems, Olian wrote a weekly syndicated newspaper column and hosted a monthly television show on current topics in business. She is a sought-after speaker and has consulted for major corporations. She serves on the boards of United Therapeutics, Ares Management and Technology Development Group, and on the advisory board of Catalyst.

Born and raised in Australia, Olian holds a B.S. in psychology from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Since 2016, James Rice has been the president and chief executive officer of Solaris Paper Inc. leading an aggressive 5-year growth plan. Previously, he was vice president of parent Asia Pulp & Paper, working directly for the owner of the company, helping to install global best practices and policies across the company's global US$2.8 billion tissue business. He was working in China continuously since 1991 having served in roles that included the CEO of a famous Chinese liquor company Shui Jing Fang and president of Tyson Foods China. His career has also included roles as plant manager, sales director, and general manager. He also served on the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai for five elected terms and, in his spare time, served as the Head Road Captain of a Harley Owners Group. Rice graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in political science in 1991. He lives in Southern California with his wife May of 25 years. They have two children, Annemarie 22 and Daniel 21. He enjoys driving his classic cars, race cars, and motorcycles on the weekends.

John Simonson is a principal in PwC’s Financial Services Regulatory Practice, bringing 30 years of experience in finance, capital markets, business operations and planning to PwC’s clients. His clients include major foreign and domestic banks and advises on recovery and resolution planning, responses to formal regulatory observations, regulatory remediation and overall risk and regulatory strategy. Additionally, he is PwC’s Advisory Point Partner for a number of the largest Chinese banks.

Simonson joined PwC from the FDIC, where he was Deputy Director for Systemic Resolution Planning and Implementation in the Office of Complex Financial Institutions. In that role, he was responsible for the implementation of the FDIC's resolution obligations under Title I and Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act. This included overseeing the review or development of resolution plans for the rapid and orderly resolution of a complex financial institution designated as systemically important, and operationalizing the FDIC’s preparedness for the resolution of such firms. He also led the FDIC’s coordination efforts with the Federal Reserve and other government agencies on these efforts, and was Chairman of the office’s Resolution Plan Review Committee.

Prior to his position at the FDIC, Simonson was the senior vice president and chief financial officer for the Export-Import Bank of the United States, where he was the principal advisor on all matters pertaining to the Bank's funds and financial policies, and led the Bank's financial operations and management of its $85 billion credit portfolio. He has also held senior positions at Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns, responsible for structuring, underwriting, restructuring, and risk management of a variety of loan and other credit products in national and international markets. Simonson also held positions in strategic and operational planning and analysis. He received his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Rice University, majoring in mathematics and economics. He received his MBA from the University of Chicago, specializing in finance and international business, and has also studied at the London School of Economics.

Maggie Sun is a partner in PwC’s Deals practice, focusing in the Capital Markets Accounting Advisory services. She has over twenty years of experience in accounting advisory and audit while based in San Francisco, Beijing and New York City.

During her tenure in China, she was the leader and the founding partner of the Financial Accounting Advisory Services practice in China North with another Big Four firm. She led accounting advisory engagements serving State Owned Enterprises and private companies overseas transactions and post-acquisition integrations. Sun was the lead audit partner on a number of U.S. IPO engagements and has extensive experience in cross border capital markets transactions. She worked with venture capital and private equity firms in providing value added services to their portfolio companies.

Sun’s experience spans a wide industry base including technology, media and entertainment, manufacturing, consumer products, life sciences, real estate and renewable energy. She has extensive experience in SEC annual and periodic reporting, integrated audits, debt offerings and acquisitions. She has been a frequent guest lecturer and invited speaker at universities in China including Tsinghua University, Hong Kong University and Renmin University. Sun is a leader in promoting diversity and inclusiveness in the work place. She is a Certified Public Accountant in California and New York.

Pin Tai

Chief Executive Officer and President of Cathay General Bancorp and Cathay Bank

Pin Tai is the Chief Executive Officer and President of Cathay General Bancorp and Cathay Bank. He has over 30 years of commercial banking experience. He first joined Cathay Bank in 1999 as the General Manager of New York Region and was charged with the goal to establish its footprint in the East Coast regions. Throughout his tenure, Tai had served in various capacities and key positions within Cathay Bank, including Executive Vice President, Chief Lending Officer, Deputy Chief Lending Officer, and Head of the Bank’s New York and Eastern Regions. He has been a board member of Cathay Bank since 2015 and Cathay General Bancorp since 2017.

Prior to joining Cathay Bank, Tai led the credit and business development, correspondent banking and marketing departments at Bank of China in the U.S., and was at Bank of America, in Hong Kong and China, where he was responsible for providing international banking services focusing on Chinese state-owned banks and companies, as well as multinational companies doing business in China and Hong Kong.

Tai is active in community organizations and serves on the boards of California Bankers Association, Cathay Bank Foundation, Foothill Family Service, and Worldwide Christian Churches Ministries. He graduated from the University of Rochester with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and received his MBA degree with Honor from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Michael Woo, the son of Wilbur K. Woo, is the dean of the College of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona, one of the leading schools producing architects, landscape architects, urban planners and graphic designers working in California. He was the first Asian-American and the first trained urban planner elected to the Los Angeles City Council, serving eight years as a representative of Hollywood and surrounding neighborhoods.

In his spare time, Woo continues to be active in community affairs. He is Interim President of the Los Angeles County Grand Park Foundation board of directors (established to support and promote the new downtown civic park between the Music Center and City Hall). He previously chaired the boards of the Hollywood Farmers Market, Smart Growth America, and Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, and was a member of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission.

Relating to China, Woo is a trustee of the Lingnan Foundation, a U.S.-based charitable foundation that supports academic innovation and international opportunities at Sun Yat-sen University (which incorporated Wilbur Woo’s alma mater Lingnan College after 1949) in Guangzhou and at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Like his father, Woo is a product of the University of California. He earned his B.A. in politics and urban studies from UC Santa Cruz, and his master of city planning degree from UC Berkeley.

William Yu joined the UCLA Anderson Forecast in 2011 as an economist where he focuses on the economic modeling, forecasting and Los Angeles economy. He also conducts research and forecasts on China’s economy, and its relationship with the U.S. economy. His research interests include a wide range of economic and financial issues, such as time series econometrics, data analytics, stock, bond, real estate, and commodity price dynamics, human capital, and innovation. Currently, he teaches business forecasting and data science courses at UCLA Anderson and UCLA Extension. He also serves as a faculty advisor for the Applied Management Research Program at UCLA Anderson.

He has published over a dozen research articles in Journal of Forecasting, International Journal of Forecasting, Journal of International Money and Finance, etc. He also published op-ed articles in Los Angeles Times and other newspapers. He developed the City Human Capital Index and the Los Angeles City Employment Estimate. He has been cited in the local, national and overseas media frequently including Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Time, Bloomberg, CBS Money Watch, Al Jazeera, U-T San Diego, LA Daily News, LA Daily Breeze, Straits Times, NBC, ABC, CNBC, CNN, and NPR, as well as various Chinese and Korean media. Yu has been invited as a speaker for various events, including the annual Woo K. Greater China Business Conference and National Association for Business Economics.

Yu received his bachelor’s degree in finance from National Taiwan University in 1995 and was an analyst in Fubon Financial Holding in Taipei from 1997 to 2000. In 2006, he received his Ph.D. degree in economics from the University of Washington where he was also an economics instructor and won two distinguished teaching awards. In 2006, he worked for the Frank Russell Investment Group for Treasury and corporate yields modeling and forecasting. From 2006 to 2011, he served as an assistant and an associate professor of economics at Winona State University where he taught courses including forecasting methods, managerial economics, international economics, and macroeconomics.

Huimin Jenny Zhan, CFA, is the president of Good Hope USA Consulting Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation, an affiliate of CreditEase, a China based FinTech conglomerate. She is also president, portfolio manager and managing director of CE-GH Fund Management, LLC. Before establishing Good Hope’s consultancy specializing in investor programs for global residence and citizenship, she was the chief strategy officer of Ambow Education Holding Ltd. and has served as a senior consultant to a number of multi-national financial organizations in Asia since 2011. Prior to shifting her career focus to China, Zhan was a portfolio manager and managing director of GMO LLC, a Boston-based global investment adviser with expertise in managing multi-asset class strategies, from 2002 to 2011, where she was responsible for Greater China equity research and emerging Market portfolio management. Prior to joining GMO, she held various software engineering and product management positions for several financial companies in the United States. Zhan earned her M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland.

Wilbur K. Woo (B.S. '42), vice chairman emeritus of Cathay Bank and Cathay Bancorp, Inc., was known for his decades of leadership in the Chinese-American community, but his many achievements never caused him to forget his humble beginnings.

He was born in 1916 in a tiny village near Guangzhou in China's southern Guangdong province. He came to Los Angeles at age five. At 12, his father sent him back to Guangzhou to be immersed in Chinese language and culture. In 1940, after two years at Lingnan College (now part of Sun Yat-Sen University), he returned to Los Angeles to complete his education at UCLA.

Like many immigrants, he found humbling work, washing dishes in a small Chinatown restaurant. He also taught at Chinese language schools in the evenings and was popular with his students, who decades later would pay their respects to their teacher whenever they saw him in the community.

During World War II, Wilbur worked as a translator in the Office of Postal Censorship, rising to chief of the Technical Operations Division. After the war, he graduated from UCLA with a degree in business administration and went to work with his father managing Chungking Produce Company, which thrived for 40 years supplying restaurants and grocery stores with Chinese vegetables and other produce.

In 1962, at a time when mainstream banks would not make loans to many ethnic Chinese, Wilbur joined Cathay Bank - the first Chinese-American-owned bank - as a vice president. With a knack for community outreach, he played a central role in the bank's growth over the next decades and rose to senior vice president, administrative vice president and executive vice president.

Alongside his distinguished career in banking, Wilbur cultivated an extraordinarily rich variety of business, political, cultural and charitable interests. He served as chairman of the board of The Chinese Times, the oldest Chinese language newspaper in the U.S.; charter chairman of the Asian American National Business Alliance; founder and chairman of the California-Taiwan Trade & Investment Council; president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce; and organizer and secretary-general of the 8th World Chinese Traders Convention. One of his proudest accomplishments, as grand president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, was lobbying for the historic immigration reform bill of the mid-1960s that opened the doors to a new wave of immigrants from China and Taiwan.

He served as an honorary member (representing overseas Chinese) of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (or national legislature) and was a member of Taiwan’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, the California World Trade Commission and the California Commission for Economic Development. He was an organizer and convener of the World Chinese Bankers Convention held in Los Angeles in 1988. That year he was named one of the "20 Most Powerful Men in Los Angeles" by Los Angeles magazine.

In 1996, crowning his numerous awards for public service, Wilbur became the first Asian American to be honored by UCLA with the Neil H. Jacoby International Award.

In 2001 he and his wife, Beth, endowed the annual Wilbur K. Woo Greater China Business Conference at the UCLA Anderson School of Management with the goal of promoting understanding of the economic ties between the Greater China region and the United States. "I established the conference to show my gratitude for the training I received at my alma mater many years ago," he said.

Sadly, Wilbur passed away on November 12, 2012 and Beth, his wife of nearly 75 years, passed away on March 2, 2017. Wilbur and Beth are survived by their four children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.